Ms. Dermid is a PLTW Biomedical Science teacher by day, and a mother to a wild and crazy 4-year-old at night. On weekends, you can find them on the lake or cheering on the Clemson Tigers! Ms. Dermid teaches Principles of Biomedical Science (PBS), Human Body Systems (HBS), Medical Interventions (MI), and Biomedical Innovation (BI) at Pickens County Career & Technology Center in Liberty, South Carolina.
The PLTW Biomedical Science program is such an exciting curriculum not only for the students, but also for the teacher! It is exciting, current, and intrigues students by having real-world applications. The content makes everyone think outside of the box, all the while keeping attention as we try to solve medical mysteries using higher-level thinking.
Students are completing the program with knowledge and experiences far beyond their peers. Students leave our courses with lab skills that I was not exposed to until my third year in college. They toss around laboratory procedures and medical terminology the same as you would expect from a med student. It's amazing! Most parents wish they could participate in all of the cool activities and projects that their biomed students are completing on a daily basis.
Watching the students grow, from semester to semester is what amazes me the most: from seeing the shy, timid student in the PBS course, to watching them explore the function of the body in HBS, to witnessing them really putting their laboratory skills to work in MI, to being honored to see their created ideas/projects in BI. All the work really pays off in the end!
My advice to all first-year teachers are to have FUN with it and never be afraid to get your hands dirty ... even if that means bringing in real animal hearts or creating fake vomit in your prep room. The students will love you for it.
PLTW’s blog is intended to serve as a forum for ideas and perspectives from across our network. The opinions expressed are those of each guest author.